


Unbound To Shadow

by orphan_account



Category: The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-11
Updated: 2014-12-02
Packaged: 2018-02-24 23:34:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 17,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2600465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An AU where the demigods at camp attend College. The story takes place three years after the war with Gaea. Nico and Will aren't a thing. Not yet.<br/>Nico, Lou Ellen, Cecil, and Will just recently moved into their dorms. They go to this college in Manhattan where the Seven attend to (including  Annabeth and Percy, yes, they cancelled the whole New Rome thing to 'try to live like normal teenagers')</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I just felt like this needed to happen

At that time Nico was in the middle of unpacking. He, Will, Lou Ellen, and Cecil had just moved into their dorms. His room was fairly small. It was painted green and purple. The color choice wasn't bad, Nico thought. The room was dark but not too dark. Much unlike his cabin at Camp Half-Blood.

 

He was putting his clothes up his drawer when he heard a knock at the door. He turned to see a tall, dark-haired boy standing in the doorway. He seemed about a year older than Nico. The boy was holding a book in his hand. Nico was about to ask him what he was doing when the boy started speaking.

 

"Hey, Nico right?" The boy asked, "Yeah, you're my new roommate! For the rest of the year!" The boy seemed excited at this thought. Probably because he'd never had a roommate before Nico. And Nico knew how it feels like to be living alone.

 

"Alright, cool." Nico gave him a smile. "Do you mind telling me your name?" Nico asked. "Sure, sorry," the boy gave him an apologizing look, "my name's Thomas."

 

 

Nico finished unpacking and went outside his room. The hall was long and wide, and it was decorated with pictures of different times. He saw a couple of pictures of the second World War. Nico felt somehow awkward-ish. As a child, that's what he saw on the newspapers. It was a part of his childhood. He wasn't able to let that go. And seeing it be remembered like that, he suddenly felt like he needed some air. And also, he wanted to see Hazel. He descended down the stairs, into the second floor and searched for her room, room 201.

 

"Hazel?" Nico called out from the door. Her room was the closest room to the stairs.

 

"Come in!" Hazel shouted from inside. Nico opened the door to see a nice, neat room. The walls were painted white and pink. The colours somehow fitted Hazel. Hazel greeted him with a smile.

 

"Hey, I heard you decided to attend here, so tell me, what do you think?" Hazel wanted to know how Nico felt, and if he had made any new friends so far.

 

"Well, it doesn't seem so bad, you know. I live two floors, up, with Thomas, he's a nice guy." Nico described to Hazel how his room looked like, and asked the question back, "How are you doing?"

 

Hazel's smile went even wider, knowing his brother had actually made a new friend. She then replied, "Well my roommate's name is Katherine, she's the RA of the Parker House - named after Brian Parker, the founding father."

 

Nico answered her with a nod. "Alright. Hey, by the way, do you know where Will's room is? Just curious." Nico blushed. He didn't mean it in that way, but it seemed like that's what Hazel thought. "What, no! That's not w-what I meant! I-I just..." Nico faded his voice as his face flushed with red.

 

"Alright, Nico, sure you don't," Hazel teased him, "He's in room 526."

 

Nico thanked Hazel and left. He probably didn't mean it in that way, but Nico did like Will. Will, although annoying, was endearing. Will was attractive, and there was nothing to not like about him, except for how stubborn he can be sometimes. But Nico saw Will as an easy-going, laidback person. Will was the perfect guy. He was sure Will wouldn't like him back, so he decided he wouldn't waste any time chasing him.

 

Nico knocked onto Will's door. Will greeted him with a large smile. "Hey, Nico!" Will said, "Come in!"

 

Nico entered Will's room and felt a bit overwhelmed. The place was extremely messy, and Nico saw a lot of Will's belongings scattered around the floor. He wondered why Will would just leave all his things on the floor. Will must've saw him staring and said, "I know, it's a mess, but my roommate insisted on it. His name's Rodger. He was the one who showed us around the place earlier, remember him?" Rodger was this pudgy, punk/goth kid who introduced Nico, Will, Lou Ellen, and Cecil to the campus. "Yeah, the punk kid, right?" Nico recalled.

 

"Yeah, that's the one."

 

They stayed quiet for a moment until Will told Nico that he had some more unpacking to do, so he excused himself. Nico wasn't sure how much more items Will had left to scatter so Nico just left and ran back to his room

 

He entered and saw Thomas on the bed, reading a book. He looked quite serious. He looked up to Nico as he entered and greeted him. "Hey, Nico, I've been wondering... since we'll be roommates, do you mind telling me about yourself?"

 

Nico usually would refuse to tell a someone he'd just known for an hour about his self but somehow he found himself agreeing to do. Probably because he wanted to see how someone would judge him if they didn't know that his dad was the Lord of The Underworld.

 

"Uh, sure." Nico answered, "I, uh, I lived with my mother for most of my childhood, in Italy. Her name was Maria di Angelo, she died when I was 12, after we moved to America. My dad then found me and my sister, and he took us to this school in Maine. My sister, she died a few weeks after my dad found us, when I was still 12. I kind of went through a depression state after that, so I ran away from my home, I met my half-sister, Hazel, in a camp in San Fransisco, and I sort of adopted her. Her mom left her at a young age. Anyways, I brought her to this camp in Long Island. She stayed there for a few weeks before going to back to another camp back in San Fransisco. I guess she couldn't leave the place. We're now both pretty close with dad. Anyway, now,she's attending this college, with her friends from camp-- from both camps. Anyway, what about you, what's your story?"

 

"Well," Thomas started, "As a child I grew up in Brooklyn. I lost my dad when I was 4. I had a stepmother back then, but she didn't really care about me. I never got to know my real mother, and my mom and dad never really got married. Anyway my stepmother found a new husband a few months after, and she gave birth to my stepbrothers, Douglas and Charlie. We grew up together, and I got well-acquaintanced with my stepfamily. My stepdad was rich, so he afforded this new house up in the West Side, and I since I wanted to go to Hunter College, that's where they sent me."

 

Nico nodded. He found it nice to share with someone. He'd only shared his story to a few people, including the Seven, Reyna, and Will. He saw that Thomas accepted him, unlike how the demigods back at camp did a few years ago. Nico realised it wasn't all about his parentage, it was about his personality. Thomas accepted Nico for who he is, and Nico was grateful for that.

 

Nico finished unpacking his things. He then went out for dinner. On his way out of campus, he saw Will. Will was talking with Cecil and Lou Ellen, and they actually looked like normal teenagers for once.

 

Nico approached Will and greeted him. "Hey, Nico," Will said, "we were just about to get some dinner, wanna come?"

 

"Really?" Nico looked at him in surprise. "Well, sure, why not?" Nico replied.

 

"Great. We were about to go this place about five blocks away, it's called Enigma. Some sort of Thai-Chinese fusion." Will announced, "Come on, let's go."

 

 

The place was fancy. It seemed like an upper class restaurant but they served simple Asian dishes. The interior design was somehow confortable, the mix of green with red and brown, with how the low-seated sofas were arranged with long dark tables. He decided that the place definitely looked much better than the Hades cabin. It was dark yet comforting.

 

As they ate their food, they talked together. They shared stories on what happened on their first day at college. Cecil said that he shared his room with a kid named Harry, and Lou Ellen shared her room with Clarrise. Will stated that his roommate, Rodger, was sort of odd, although he managed to get good grades. Next Nico told them about Thomas, the Brooklyn kid who lost both his parents, but found peace within his new family. After they finished dinner, they split bills and went back to the campus.

 

Nico came into his room to find Thomas asleep on his bed, with a book covered on top of his face. Nico chuckled and moved the book. He definitely did not feel any love towards Thomas, but he felt sort of a brotherly relationship towards him, even though he'd only known him for a day. Nico stripped out into his boxers, climbed onto his bed and closed his eyes. He decided he would need some rest before classes start tomorrow.

 

 

Nico woke up as usual, at around 5:30. He'd gotten used to waking early, since back at camp he usually practiced his swordfighting at this time of hour, when nobody would bother him.

 

He got into his clothes, showered, and went for a walk. As he opened the door, he saw Thomas stirring in his sleep. He lifted his head up and asked, "Nico, where are you going? It's like 6 in the morning."

 

"I'm going for a walk" Nico replied.

 

"Ok," Thomas answered. He saw Thomas drop back to sleep before heading out. 

 

As he was jogging his way out of campus, Will caught up to him. "Hey, Nico!" Wil shouted from afar, "Wait up!" As Will caught up to him, Nico saw Will flash a grin, "I didn't know you were up this early."

 

"Well, I always am, Solace. And there's a lot more stuff you don't know about me."

 

"Well alright, Death Boy."

 

Nico had to get used to the nickname, because Will found it sort of cute. The son of Hades looked at him for a while, and realised that he was in love with this kid. Nico mumbled something Will couldn't quite hear. "What was that?" Will asked.

 

"I said don't call me that."

 

"Aww, alright, sunshine."

 

"Will I'm serious, I don't like the nicknames."

 

"Fine, fine." Will gave in.

They walked around the campus, ocassionally recounting their past experiences. They both laughed at some old stories, like when Leo attempted to land Festus with a great entrance but instead crash-landed onto the dirt. They shared some stories, and they told jokes. Nico felt like he wanted to get to know Will better, but he just couldn't get enough courage to ask him out. Finally, they parted and got back to their rooms. Nico came in and saw Thomas sitting on his bed, looking like he just woke up. "Nico?" He asked, "What time is it?" "8 o'clock, sleepyhead." Nico teased. Thomas panicked and got his stuff ready. Apparantly Thomas was not that much of a morning person. "I gotta get to class, bye Nico!"

 

Nico chuckled and got himself ready. He was about to go to his Philosophy class when Annabeth peered in the door. "Annabeth?" Nico was shocked. What's going--"

 

"Nico," Annabeth interrupted, "Half-Bloods. Grover sensed them in here. Probably not yet claimed and un-dangerous, since Grover said they were children of minor gods and goddesses."

 

"So... what do you want me to do?"

 

"Be careful. Don't let any monsters nearby. And probably try to find which of them are demigods."

 

"Ok." Nico said, and Annabeth left.

 

So that was something, Nico thought. Half-Bloods at this school. Shouldn't be a problem. Probably siblings or twins. All they had to do was find them.


	2. First Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico's first day at college.

Nico's phisolophy class went well. He understood everything the professor gave to him. He remembered something Heraclitus once said, 'Life has the name of life, but in reality it is death'. Nico understood that one perfectly. Without life you cannot die, and without death you cannot live. Life is a realm. A place where all things dead go to before they die. Nico's just another soul, waiting until the time comes for him to die. But Nico wasn't afraid of death. The idea seemed rather comforting. The purpose of life is to be the best you can to earn a rightful place in the Underworld.

 

He decided not to get too philosophical. Besides, he would soon have to go to his literature class.

 

He ate lunch with Will and the others, including the Seven and Clarrise. As usual, they talked about their day. Will shared that in his pre-med class, he met this girl named Jenna. She was ADHD and dyslexic, and she excelled at biology. "Jenna?" Piper asked, "She's the girl who lives right across my room. I never realised she was dyslexic or ADHD."

 

"Well, at least we've got somthing" Annabeth said, "Anyone else?"

 

Nico had a piece of important information. It was something he got from the dead, as usual.

 

"There was a ghost in my class" Nico announced. The other demigods turned towards him. It wasn't unusual that Nico's informants were unliving.

 

"He warned me that there are more demigods here than you think. And.. and also more monsters in here than we'd expect."

 

The demigods seemed to dwell on that for a moment. None of them had expected that. Usually in a public place, the number of unclaimed demigods would range from 0~2. Finding three would be considered as a huge find. If the ghost had said that there are more demigods than we'd expect, Nico had a feeling that there were at least ten demigods in the entire campus. They were all quiet for a while. "Alright," Jason finally said, "Let's just... see how it goes and just... keep in touch."

 

They left and went to their respective classes. Nico's next class was English Literature.

 

Nico's literature class went extremely well. The book given to the class was a 1920s classic; Winnie The Pooh. He heard it was still famous, that the book had earned its own franchise. Nico had read the book twice already, so he had no problem writing his papers.

 

He finished all his homework by dinner, and then went out to eat. He ate at a nearby fast-food restaurant where he ordered a potato salad to-go. He had to admit that he was quite surprised a few years ago when he learned that McDonald's didn't have that.

 

When he came back to his dorm, he saw Thomas reading a book, as usual. His face showed the slightest glint of seriousness.

 

"Hey Thomas," Nico greeted him, "What are you reading?"

 

"Moby Dick" Thomas replied.

 

Nico was surprised. He hasn't read Moby Dick? Are the kids these days always"Moby Dick? You've never read that before?"

 

"No... I'm, uh... dyslexic. I, uh, can barely understand a word in here." Thomas answered nervously.

 

"Why didn't you ask for help?" Nico asked sincerely.

 

"No, I-I don't want anyone to think I'm stupid." Thomas' face flushed with embarrasment. He looked down to the floor.

 

"What!? No one will think you're stupid. In fact, I also have dyslexia." In fact, almost all demigods do, Nico thought.

 

"Really?" Thomas asked in disbelief, "Well how do you deal with it?"

 

Nico considered that for a moment. An idea suddenly popped in his head. Nico was a dyslexic, but it was Italian that he wasn't able to read, not English. He had no problem reading English books. But how he dealt with it...

 

"Well, I would usually get a book in Greek. I have no problem reading Greek." Nico offered. He figured that if Thomas could read Ancient Greek, he could confirm he was a demigod.

 

"What!? Greek? I don't even understand the language." Thomas looked at Nico in confusion.

 

"Really?" Nico asked, "Here try this." Nico handed him his copy of The Man With The Golden Gun in Ancient Greek.

 

"James Bond? Really?" He opened the first page and started reading. Η μυστική υπηρεσία κατέχει τόσο πολύ. "The secret service holds so much..." Thomas translated under his breath. Thomas looked at him in surprise. "Wait... how-?" Thomas stared at him.

 

"You know what this means?" Nico asked, "You're a demigod. A child of a Greek god and a mortal. Who your godly parent is, I don't know..." Nico thought about it for a moment. Thomas' parents... "You never knew your mom, so she must be a goddess." Thomas nodded, although his face showed some kind of confusion. "You're not surprised?" Nico asked. Thomas answered without hesitating, "No, not really. I guess it would make sense that the Greek gods and goddesses are still alive. I just don't get why they'd be in America."

 

"Well, you see... The Greek civilazition is like a spirit. It moves along, wherever the fire is brightest. For the past century, it's been in America. Later Chiron will fill you in."

 

Thomas looked exhausted. He probably was overwhelmed with all this. But Nico could see that he took this open-mindedly. "Alright... we'll just... discuss this in the morning. It's just... wow." And so they went to bed.

 

 

The next morning, Nico decided to wake up a little earlier. He really wanted to see Will. He was about to go to Will's room to see if he was awake, but he then realised there were more important things to do. He instead went to the cafetaria.

 

He was planning to tell the others about Thomas, but he wasn't sure whether they were awake, so he decided to send them dreams, telling them to wake up and meet up at the cafetaria.

 

Jason and Percy were the first to arrive. Nico had been waiting roughly ten minutes since he sent that dream. Took quite long, he thought.

 

"Nico!" Jason shouted from the door of the cafetaria, "Why did you want to meet?"

 

"I found a demigod. I'll explain later, after the others get here."

 

Piper, Annabeth, Hazel, Leo, Will, Cecil, Lou Ellen, and Clarrise arrived two minutes later. "Morning, guys" Leo greeted. "Nico, you're up early," He teased.

 

"Whatever, Leo. So, guys," Nico started, "I've confirmed a demigod. He hasn't been claimed yet."

 

Everybody went quiet on that, except for Annabeth, who asked, "You have any clues on who his godly parent is, Nico?" Annabeth asked.

 

"None, only that his mom is a goddess."

 

"What's his name?" Percy asked.

 

"Thomas Gate. He's a Brooklyn kid." Nico told them Thomas' story. They all listened, and when he finished, Hazel asked, "How did his dad die?"

 

"Plane crash. Thomas didn't tell me that but his dad's ghost did."

 

Annabeth put on a sceptical look. "Plane crash..." She muttered, "His mom must be an adversary to Zeus... Or at least acquaintanced with Zeus' enemy..." Everyone went quiet. They all did some thinking. Nico started to consider possibilities. Not many goddesses were enemies/allianced to the enemies of Zeus.

 

"Alright," Nico finally said, "We'll think about it, but just... stay alert. A large group of demigods in this school, that would attract monsters. Keep a weapon with you at all times." Nico warned them.

 

They concluded the meeting and went back to their rooms. Nico entered his room and found Thomas still asleep. For a moment he considered bringing the guy to camp. Just to keep him safe. But since the guy survived a year in here already without any monster attacks, Nico supposed he would be just fine.

 

Nico went to the bathrooms and showered. The water was cold, but it didn't bother him. Nico liked the cold.

 

He finished showering and put on his clothes. He left the bathrooms and went back to his room. Inside, he saw Will standing beside his bed. "Will?" Nico asked, "What are you doing here?" Nico glared at Will although he was full of concern. Was something wrong?

 

"Oh-- uh... Nico... I, uh, I was looking for you. You didn't answer the door so I assumed you were asleep." Will looked like he was blushing.

 

"Well, why were you looking for me?" Nico asked nicely.

 

"I, uh, I wanted to ask you, if you wanna... go out for dinner? Maybe?" Will was definetly blushing.

 

"Wait, why would you want me to go out for dinner with you?" Nico was confused. Weren't he and Lou Ellen dating? That's what Nico assumed.

 

"I-I thought I wanted to, I don't know, just have d-dinner with y-you? Just g-go out with me?" Will stammered. Nico saw the blush on his cheeks. He never would've thought Will liked him that way. For the past three years, Will was only a friend to Nico. He never expected Nico would be his love interest. Was he? Or was Nico overthinking? Nah, Will would never like him in that way. He must've asked Nico out as a friend.

 

"Alright... Where will we be eating?" Nico asked.

 

"There's a bar nearby called Starlight. It's for eighteen above, and we're eighteen." Will offered.

 

"Alright... Meet you there tonight at seven?"

 

"Seven sounds good. See ya"

 

Nico felt excited. Will had asked him out on a date. Did he? Nico didn't care. Will had, in some way, ask him out. Nico jumped on the bed. He then decided not to get too excited. There were still other problems to deal with. The monsters and demigods in here... Nico hadn't found them all. 


	3. Newfound Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will and Nico finally get together. After three chapters. Finally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote the last two chapters quickly. Please do tell me if there are any incorrect spelling or any of the kind.

When Will entered the bar, Nico was already waiting for him. "Nico!", Will exclaimed, "You came early."

 

"Yeah, I didn't have much to do. I had all my homework done and I didn't have anything else to do so I decided to come here."

 

"Yeah, well thanks for coming."

 

"Sure, no problem. So... anything new today?"

 

"Yeah. I found a club in campus for dyslexic children. We might find some demigods in there. We should join." Will offered.

 

"Yeah, just in case." Nico agreed with him. It would be smart to enter an organization where it might contain a concentrated amount of demigods, because if they stay together too long, their scent would probably attract all the monsters in the campus.

 

Their food came after a minute or so. Nico had ordered a chicken salad and Will took the seafood platter.

 

They were enjoying their food when Nico spotted the first monster. It was an empousai. Nothing Nico couldn't handle. "Hey, Will. Monster." Nico pointed at the monster's direction

 

"Gaaah!" Will shrieked, "I didn't bring a weapon!"

 

"Shh... I brought mine." Nico materialized his Stygian Iron sword and held it in his hand. He stood up from his chair and ran towards the empousai. She looked like a 19-year-old college girl. Boys were standing around her. They all seemed under her control. A guy in the corner looked sort of scared. He was probably another freshman. He covered his face from the monster. He'd seen through the Mist, Nico thought...

 

And then that's when it hit him. He couldn't kill the empousai in here with all these people around him. They would see a freshman slicing up a college girl and then vaporising her into dust. Alright, Nico thought, I'll have to bend the Mist.

 

He snapped his fingers and grey smoke curled around the floor. It turned the empousai into its real form. Its mismatched bronze and donkey legs showed from under her skirt. He then bent the shadows to travel the mortals back to their homes. Only he, Will, and the scared kid he saw before was left in the place. He decided to deal with that later. He charged at the monster and sliced his sword across her neck. She instantly crumpled to dust.

 

He looked back to Will and saw him talking to the freshman. "What was that!?" He asked, "Why was there a demon lady, and w-where did everybody go!?"

 

"I sent them home. They were mortals. But it seems that you aren't..."

 

"Another demigod?" Will turned to Nico.

 

"Yeah I guess. Any idea which of his parent is a god?"

 

"I don't know... Let's ask him." Will offered. 

They asked him his story. His name was Kevin Hart and he said that his mom left when he was young.

 

"Well I guess that pretty much confirms it." Nico said, "Let's take you home."

 

They escorted him back to his room and handed him a Celestial Bronze dagger. "Here, keep this with you at all times. This will harm monsters but not mortals."

 

"Alright," the guy replied, "So my mom is a Greek god?"

 

"Yup. Which is why you'll have to stay alert. Look out for monsters. Go to Annabeth Chase tomorrow and she should be able to train you the basics of fighting with weapons. And she'll be able to answer any questions you have about the world of Greek civilization and stuff. Bye, Kevin." Nico told him.

 

They ended the conversation and Will turned to Nico. "So, I guess our date went terribly wrong." Will said. So it was a date. Nico hadn't been overthinking. "Yeah, I guess. We could go on another one though. How about this Saturday? Lunch at Artworks?"

 

"Sure, that sounds great."

 

They said goodbye and parted. Nico ran to his room. When he entered, he saw Thomas sitting on his bed, staring at his book.

 

"Nico," Thomas looked at him. He looked worried. "Explain to me. Why did I have a hologram of a pomegranate and bats on top of my head when I was taking a shower? What does that mean?"

 

Nico inhaled deeply. He was shocked. Thomas must've seen the look on his face because he asked, "What? What is it?"

 

"Thomas, your godly parent claimed you. The bats and the pomegranate... You're a child of Persephone, Queen of The Underworld." Nico said, "Wait, would that make you my half-stepbrother? From my stepmom's side?" Nico suddenly felt overwhelmed. A bunch of godly questions popped up in his head.

 

"Why? Who's your godly parent?" Thomas asked.

 

"My dad's Hades, the Lord of the Underworld. Persephone was-"

 

Thomas interrupted him, "His wife, yeah. I think I know the story. Are there more demigods like me?" For a while there Nico saw in Thomas' face a slight glint of excitement. Nico remembered how he had felt when he had learned his dad was a Greek god. Nico then decided not to look behind.

 

"The children of Persephone? No, you're the only one I know. But if you mean demigods... we have two whole camps of them. One in Long Island for Greeks and another one in San Fransisco, for Romans. Remember the camps I told you about? Well those are for demigods."

 

Thomas looked stunned. "Uhh, alright... Hold on, if the Greek gods and goddesses are still alive, wouldn't the Titans, monsters, and other immortal Greek figures still be alive as well?"

 

"They are..." Nico said, "And we've encountered hundreds of them so far. For the Titans, we were at war with them a few years back. I was at the frontline myself, using my Underworld magic to attack Kronos' forces. You know, that reminds me..." Nico took out his Bronze dagger and gave it to Thomas. "Here. It's made from Celestial Bronze. It will harm monsters and demigods but it will pass right through mortals if you try to stab them."

 

"Alright... Thanks Nico," He nodded, "By the way, are there anymore demigods in this school besides us?"

 

"Actually, yes. A whole lot more. The ones we know confirmed as demigods are me, Will Solace, son of Apollo, Jason Grace, son of Jupiter..." Nico continued listing them as Thomas listened. He seemed shocked to know that Percy and Annabeth were demigods.

 

"Wow... I did not expect that. Anyway, it's already late. We should get to sleep."

 

"Yeah, you're right."

 

###

As usual, Nico woke up early and went out for a walk. It's his fourth day in college, and so far it's gone well. Except for that one monster attack he had two nights ago during dinner with Will. That ruined their date.

 

But now he had other things to do. Nico just finished training Jenna, Thomas and Kevin. Turns out Kevin was a son of Hecate. Nico taught him how to manipulate the Mist like how Nico did two nights ago and he learned flawlessly.

 

They still haven't confirmed who Jenna's parent was, since both her parents had abandoned her. She was put up for adoption and was adopted by a rich family. Jenna had a certain interest in medication, so she might be a daughter of Apollo.

 

 

In the afternoon, Nico and Will decided to join the Literature For Dyslexics club just to see which if them are demigods. They haven't a clue yet on who and how many demigods there are in the club alone but Nico had a feeling there were at least half a dozen. In truth, Nico was really shocked to know that if so many of them are here, how could they have survived alone for so long? But then, the majority of the monsters were sort of busy joining Gaea's army.

 

 

The next day, Nico visited Will in his room at twelve. "Hey Will," Nico started, "are we still on?"

 

"Yeah, yeah. Hold on, let me just get my dagger... Wouldn't want anything else to happen again, right?"

 

"Of course not." Nico replied with a chuckle.

 

"Alright, let's go." Will led him out of campus. The restaurant was about seven blocks away from campus. When they reached the place, it was packed. Artworks was a German restaurant owned by an Austrian chef. It wasn't high-classed or fancy or anything, but it was decent.

 

Nico ordered the spatzle which was some sort of German pasta with a creamy sauce while Will ordered a schnitzel. Typical American, Nico thought.

 

"So..." Nico began, "You asked me out on a date."

 

"Uh... Y-yeah?" It turned into a question.

 

"And I said yes."

 

Will pondered on that for a moment. "Wait, so does that mean you like me back?" Will asked hopefully.

 

"I think I do. Yeah, I do. But, why didn't you ever make any moves before?" Nico questioned.

 

"I did, Death Boy. I've been flirting for our entire friendship. You were just too stupid to see it."

 

"... Really? Or were you just too shy to make it a little more obvious?" Nico teased.

 

Will blushed. It seemed like he always lost to Nico when it came to words. "W-what!? No! Y-you were too--"

 

Will was cut short by Nico kissing him. "Wow... I've always wanted to do that for a long time." Nico said. Will saw his face getting red. He assumed he was just as red as Nico. "Gods, Nico... Wow..." Will inhaled.

 

"That ain't nothing yet, Solace."

 

"Hold on, Nico. What are you offering?"

 

"W-what? Nothing! I-I just... I meant--" Nico struggled to find the words. For a moment there Will thought he'd won a conversation with Nico. Will gave Nico a smirk. His confidence disappeared when Nico asked, "What did you _think_  I was offering?"

 

Will's face went hot. "Uh... N-no! That's not what I meant--"

 

"Uh-huh." Nico teased, "Whatever. Let's just get out of here." They split the bill and went back to campus. On their way back, Will asked Nico. "Wait, this means we're boyfriends right?"

 

"Yeah, I guess so." Nico assumed.

 

Will whooped and jumped like a kid. He seems happy, Nico thought. Will grinned at him and Nico smiled back.

 

As they walked back to their rooms, they held hands. A few people shot them confused looks, but most people just ignored. Back in the 30s, if anyone knew you were gay, well... you probably wouldn't live that long. It seems like things have changed over the past 70 years. Will walked Nico back to his room, kissed him as he walked inside, and said goodbye.

 

Thomas eyed at him confusingly. "Wait... you two are... dating?" Thomas asked. "I didn't know you were gay."

 

"Well I didn't know he was gay." Nico said.

 

Thomas just nodded and went back to reading his book. Nico climbed onto his bed and went to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the 17th, I'll have the 4th-6th chapters uploaded already.


	4. Children of The Underworld

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thomas discovers his parentage, and the title gives a hint on who his mom is.

Nico woke up to the sound of Thomas falling from his bed. The sky outside showed that it was still early. Nico looked down at Thomas, who was still struggling to get up. "Thomas?" Nico asked, "What happened?"

 

Thomas looked around. It was still dark. Nico was up on his bed, giving him a concerned look. Thomas lifted his head and breathed in. "Nico... I... I had a nightmare." Thomas stammered. It wasn't unusual that a demigod would have nightmares. Nico wasn't sure what his nightmares were about, but he does know how terrible a demigod's nightmare can be. They could give you glints of the past, the present, or even the future. Luckily Nico had learned to control his dreams, even though that didn't stop all the nightmares.

 

 "Well usually it gets worse once your powers develop." Nico told him. They exchanged looks. Thomas hesitated for a while before saying, "How much worse could it get? What I dreamt about just now, it was worse than a nightmare... This one felt real. I... I was witnessing my dad die. I was on his plane, and my dad, he was talking to the pilot, warning him that if they flew at this altitude, they would recieve more turbulance than they'd expect. He wasn't wrong, because suddenly the plane shook, thunder boomed around them and they were struck. The plane lost balance and fell towards the ground. My- my dad... He- he got stabbed by a piece of metal. There was this huge hole in his chest. He was bound to die in a few minutes, until lightning struck the plane again. And that's when I woke up."

 

Nico tried reassuring him, "Thomas, don't worry... It's pretty normal for demigods to have nightmares. In fact, I also still have nightmares about my past." Although, Nico didn't mention Tartarus. He didn't want to bring that up in a conversation. He remembered how terrible the place was. The constant beating of Tartarus' heart, the monsters that attacked him every few minutes. In Tartarus, all his skills were at his disposal. He bent the shadows while simultaneously slashing the monsters to dust. He called for skeletons. He opened the ground to swallow groups of monsters. He was exhausted and his body was numb, but he couldn't die. Tartarus was healing him. Probably because he knew Nico would be used for bait.

 

"Really..?" Thomas sighed. "Will living as a demigod always be this hard?" Thomas asked. His face showed his nervousness and anxiety.

 

Nico looked at his face full of seriousness and then calmed down. "Huh, you wouldn't believe just how hard living as a demigod can be." Nico answered with a chuckle. He recalled his previous experiences, living all alone, while training with the dead, the time he spent in the Underworld, the war with Kronos, and the battle against Gaea.

 

Nico let Thomas thought about what he said before. Living as a demigod is hard. Thomas stayed quiet for a moment. He then pleaded Nico, "Train me. You said I'd have powers. Help me develop them."

 

"Uuh, I don't know..." Nico admitted. "Although I suppose I could take you to Camp Half-Blood to train your powers. Chiron will be able to train you. I'll take you, Jenna, and Kevin there in the morning." Nico promised.

 

"Alright." Thomas seemed relieved with the thought. He dropped back onto his bed and went to sleep.

 

Nico instead decided to take a shower. He took his towel and walked to the shower. The walk there blew a cold breeze against Nico's exposed body, but he didn't mind the cold. When he finished showering and put on his shorts, he went out of the showers and bumped into Will. "Uh... Nico." Will looked down at the floor. Nico blushed. It was a very awkward situation. "Will." Nico answered back. He could tell that Will wasn't used to seeing Nico shirtless. Will stared at his toned abs. Nico looked at his gaping face. Then Nico looked at Will in the eye. He decided to tease him.

 

"Like what you see, there, Solace?" Nico got over the awkwardness.

 

Will blushed. "What!? No!" Will realised he had walked into a minefield. "You do not do that to me, Nico! Don't start this, please!" Will begged.

 

"Haha. I feel sorry for you sunshine. But I have to say, you look pretty good as well, although you would look just as good without a shirt. Damn, Will." Nico bit his lip.

 

Will flushed with redness. He found himself lost on words. Finally, he found the courage to say, "I'll just... be going. Bye Nico." He said quickly. Will ran inside the bathroom and sighed with relief.

 

Nico just left and walked to his room. He entered and saw Thomas still asleep. He decided not to wake him up. He put on a shirt and went to get breakfast.

 

 

After breakfast, he met up with Will, Thomas, Jenna, and Kevin outside the campus' gates. He gave Will a smirk then looked around at the group of five. "So, guys. You ready?" Nico asked them.

 

They were quiet for a moment except for Kevin, the son of Hecate. He had been claimed last night. "Hold on," Kevin said, "What exactly will we be doing?" Kevin eyed at him cautiously.

 

Nico explained to him about his methods of travel. "I'll be using the shadows to transport us to Camp Half-Blood to train your fighting skills. Including you, Will. For the first time doing this, you might experience nausea but soon you'll get used to it. Ready?" Nico asked. They all nodded.

 

They held hands in a circle and in an instant, they were at Camp Half-Blood.

 

Nico and Will led the group to the Big House. They entered and greeted Chiron. When they saw Chiron, the group were all amazed. "Chiron? Like the Chiron!?" Jenna asked in surprise. "Yes, my dear." Chiron answered calmly then looked at Nico. "Nico, would you mind explaining this?"

 

Nico turned towards Chiron and said, "Uhm, well... It started like this:" Nico explained the story. From how he had met Thomas, to how Will discovered Jenna's dyslexia and ADHD, to when the empousai disturbed their dinner that led to finding Kevin, and finally to how Thomas and Kevin were claimed by their godly parent in the past week. "However," Nico slowed down. " We haven't yet confirmed Jenna's godly parent. She was abandoned and put up for adoption at a young age."

 

Chiron studied Jenna carefully. Finally, he said, "Come with me child." Jenna looked at Chiron carefully then answered, "Yes, sir." Chiron led her away to the dining hall.

 

Nico and Will decided to take Thomas and Kevin to the training arena. On their way there, they were greeted by some year-round campers, such as Mitchell and Drew.

 

Once they reached the arena, Nico told them to pick a sword. "Find one that balances perfectly in your hand." Nico advised them. Thomas and Kevin had each found one, and only Will was struggling with his sword. Will's sword looked too heavy in his hands. "Uh, Will?" Nico asked. He was concerned about Will's sword. If his sword was too heavy it would ruin his sword fighting.

 

"Yeah, Nico?" Will pretended like it wasn't. He acted casual. "What's wrong?"

 

Nico gave Will a look. The sword has clearly too big and heavy. "Well... your sword, it's too heavy. I can see that, Will. If your sword's unbalanced, it would ruin your swinging techniques." Nico decided not to scold Will. Instead, he fished out a lighter sword from the floor. "Here, try this one. If it's too light, I'll just have Leo forge you a better one."

 

Will took the sword. He thanked Nico for the sword and asked him how he knew it would fit him perfectly.

 

Nico looked at Will and smirked. "Because I know you, sunshine.", Nico teased him.

 

Nico started the lesson by demonstrating them the basics of swordplay. He showed them how to swing, thrust, parry, and how to disarm an opponent.

 

Thomas was a quick learner. He did pretty good with the daggers, and he did even better with the sword. Will was also getting better each time he practiced his moves. The only one having problems with the sword was Kevin.

 

Kevin's techniques were largely flawed. His swinging was always too wide, and his thrusts weren't strong enough. He moved too slow, and his blocks didn't do much help. He did better with the dagger, Nico recalled.

 

"Hey, Kevin." Nico called out. "You know, the sword might not be really your thing?" Nico raised an eyebrow. Kevin smiled at him and chuckled, "Yeah, I know. I suck at this. Can I try something else?"

 

You wanna try archery?" Nico offered. Nico imagined Kevin with a bow and arrow. He fit that picture better than with a sword.

 

"Yeah, sure." Kevin nodded.

 

"Come with me. Thomas, Will, you two start sparring. I'll be back in an hour." Nico said goodbye and led Kevin to the archery range. He took a bow and some arrows.

 

"Kevin. Do you know how to shoot yet?" Nico asked.

 

"No, could you teach me?"

 

"Sure. Here," Nico showed him the steps. Nico noticed that Kevin was a much better archer than swordsman. His aim was excellent, and his shooting was flawless, much unlike his swordfighting.

 

In less than twenty minutes, Kevin had mastered the bow. And in half an hour, they had regrouped with Thomas and Will.

 

"Nico!" Thomas shouted. He looked extremely pleased. Nico wondered why.

 

Then he continued, "I discovered my powers!"

 

"Which hurt!" Will complained while clutching to his stomach. "Thomas, tell him!"

 

Thomas' grin faded, but then another wide smile replaced its place. "I can control souls!" He exclaimed, "I controlled Will! We were sparring, and then when Will was about to slam the hilt of his sword against me, I raised my hands to block and then Will froze. It only lasted for a few seconds, but it gave me enough time to knock him off." He said excitedly.

 

Thomas' powers had involved soul manipulating. He made Will freeze in position. Well, his mother was the Queen of the Underworld. "I guess it makes sense," Nico said. "Persephone has powers over spirits and plants right? I think you inherited her spirit-controlling. Which is sort of a rare power."

 

Thomas' grin went even wider. And that's when Nico realised that Thomas is another rare and powerful demigod. And one with massive potential.


	5. The Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm excited. Are you?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 6 & 7 coming soon! Stay tuned.

In life there are some questions that needed to be answered, and Nico felt like most of those belonged to him. He has tons of mysteries in his head. Such as how large is his influence over the dead, where are the extents of his ability to manipulate shadows, and are there limits for his powers? He decided he wanted to find out.

 

He looked around the arena. He was alone for the moment. Thomas had gone to talk to Chiron, and Kevin was training his archery with Will.

 

There were lots of shadows in the arena. Could he control them? He opened his palm as if he were to project an image on top of it. He focused. Nothing was happening. Until after a few minutes, the shadows started creeping towards his hand. He decided what he wanted to create with the shadows. In his mind, Nico envisioned a sceptre. And, as he hoped, the shadows transformed into a solid object. A staff with a long, two-branched tip. In between the bridge that seperates the two tips was a crystal. A murky, purle, diamond. He felt that it radiated darkness. He also felt that the sceptre would multiply his powers. He didn't know the full extent of its powers, but he knew that it was powerful. He somehow also knew that the sceptre was made especially for him. This 5-foot-long weapon had a writing engraved in Ancient Greek on its side. Erebus. Darkness. This sceptre belonged to the god Erebus. But somehow Nico felt like it belongs to him.

 

He went outside the arena. The weather was quite nice. It was sunny and the wind gave a cool breeze against Nico's face. He ran to the Big House.

 

He opened the door and saw Chiron, Will, Jenna, Thomas, and Kevin sitting around the ping pong table. They were sharing a pizza. When he walked inside, all their heads turned towards him. Will gave him a confused look. Chiron, who was usually the wisest and most rational among the group, gave Nico a scared look and shouted, "Where in Hades did you get that!?" Nico wasn't used to hearing Chiron shout like that. That kind of surprised Nico. Nico then decided to tell Chiron.

 

"The shadows." Nico answered calmly, hoping that it would influence Chiron. "My powers over it; the shadows transformed into this sceptre. I concentrated, and this materialized in my hands."

 

Chiron studied him for a while. He then gestured for Nico to come with him, "Follow me."

 

Nico followed Chiron to a room in the Big House which he had never seen before. The room was decorated with faces of many great heroes. There was Hercules, Odysseus, Achilles, Percy Jackson, and a few others. Nico was surprised to see his face in one of those frames. "Uuh, Chiron?" Nico asked. "My face is in here."

 

Chiron gave him a pitying look and said, "My boy, you must know. That sceptre you hold belongs to the primordial god, Erebus. He is one of the first beings ever to exist. Long ago, before I was born, there was a story about the Darkness, that when the first leaves, a second will come to claim the title. And around 3000 years ago, Erebus left. A prophecy then came." Chiron recited the lines of the prophecy.

 

" _Awake, shall his power, once the dark is his,_

_Seek the god below to light the abyss._

_The fall of the sun - the final verse,_

_The throne taken; and the discard in thirst._

_His army to march in a land against all odds,_

_To battle the first; the rising gods._ "

 

They both went quiet after that. _The fall of the sun - the final verse._ That got Nico's attention. He hadn't told anyone about hearing that line of the prophecy.

 

It took them two whole minutes to start talking again. "Do you know what this means, Nico?" Chiron finally said.

 

Nico knew exactly what this meant. "We'll have to go on a quest, am I right? And I'll be leading it."

 

Nico felt overwhelmed. He'd never lead a quest before. "But Chiron, we've got some problems. First, I don't have an army. And second, we haven't a clue when, where, or which of the gods will rise."

 

Chiron only gave him a smile and said, "Alas, my boy, we do. You will lead the demigods at your school to a land unknown, and as for the rising gods; well the eldest shall wake. It's best I do not say their names. Names are powerful. But you must know that before the Titans, there were gods. Primeval gods. The Earth Mother was one of them. And there are many more. But as for when and where they shall rise, I do not know. Although I have a feeling the god below does." Chiron then gave him a serious look. "Do you now know what must be done?"

 

Nico returned his look with a nod. "Yes, Chiron. I'm going on a quest."

 

Nico went out of the room, going back to his friends. They all looked worried. Nico told them about the quest. They looked even more worried. It was Will who spoke up first. "This army, how will we be able to bring them below to meet this god?"

 

Nico paused for a while. He hadn't thought about their means of transportation. Finally, he said, "I'm not sure we will. Chiron said I'll be going on a quest. And the maximum number is always three." He looked around at the group of five. "But we should think about that later. Right now, our priority is to find all the demigods at campus."

 

He looked at the clock hanging on the wall. "Guys, it's already late, we should go back." They all agreed. They said goodbye to Chiron and Nico shadow-travelled them back to their rooms.

 

 

Nico and Thomas sat on the bed. "Thomas," Nico started. "I want you to come with me and Will on my quest. Is that too much?" Nico gave him an apologising look.

 

"No, it's fine, Nico. Actually, I'm a little excited. My first quest. A journey to the Underworld and all. Let's just hope I don't die."

 

Nico let out a chuckle. "Yeah, I hope so too."

 

Nico stared for a while at the ground, waiting for Thomas to reply, until he heard a snore. Thomas had gone to sleep. Nico figured he should too. He dematerialized his sceptre, dropped onto his bed, and closed his eyes.


	6. Parentage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What an ugly title, I know. I couldn't think of anything else.  
> Anyway, this chapter is like, the calm stages before their 'dangerous' quest

It's been a week since Nico claimed Erebus' sceptre. A week since Chiron assigned him the quest. This whole thing felt like a huge responsibilty. Huge and heavy. But Nico will have to go on the quest. If he didn't, well, Chaos and his buddies would show up.

 

He decided to get out of bed. So far last week, he'd discovered 11 new demigods. He wasn't surprised this large of a number had stayed hidden for over this long. He understood why the monsters couldn't find these demigods. They smelled different. Unusual. Their parents were... how do the kids call it these days? Anti-mainstream. Rare children of minor gods and goddesses who were not thought about much but their children each had a lot of power.

 

It turns out Jenna was the daughter of Aphaea, the minor goddess of agriculture. There was also Douglas, the only known son of Eris, goddess of strife; William, son of Moros, or doom; Renée, daughter of Cybele, goddess of mountains; Albert, son of Stilbon, god of the planet Mercury; Carey, daughter of Boreas, the north wind; Huey, son of Phorcys (yes, that Phorcys); Olivia, daughter of Macaria, goddess of blessed death; and Theodore, son of Techne, spirit of art and skill.

 

Each of them had amazing abilities. Nico watched them play capture the flag last night. It was a massacre. And their team won. Luckily, he was on their team.

 

Last night it was the teams were the Athena, Hecate, Hades, Persephone, Eris, Stilbon, Phorcys, Moros, Aphaea, Cybele, Boreas, Macaria, and Techne Cabins versus the rest of the camp. Nico's team consisted of forty people. The opposing team, which had Jason and Percy in it, consisted of around seventy people.

 

As usual, the Athena cabin formed the plan. The new demigods were the offence, while the Athena and Hecate cabin were the defence. Meanwhile, Nico's job was to shadow-travel and get the flag.

 

Sadly, he didn't need to. He just needed to run, since the battle was, as said before, a massacre. Jenna had great control over her powers, and she wasn't afraid to attack the other campers. The woods turned into a carnival. The new demigods had brought Capture The Flag to a whole new level.

 

The Earth shook. The north winds blew the flying arrows out of the sky. The trees would occasionally grab the opposing team's attackers. Explosions shook the forest. A war cry was heard, and the temperatures dropped. Theodore was shooting multiple arrows at once, constantly wounding campers. William fought like a hurricane, and Jenna tripped the fleeing demigods with the trees' roots.

 

Nico let out a huge grin, and decided he would go do his job. He was supposed to get the flag, after all.

 

He ran around the perimeter. He reached Zeus' Fist, and sure enough, Percy and Jason was guarding it. He decided to step out of the shadows.

 

Once he was in sight, Percy let out a huge shout. "Nico!" He gave his usual dumb look, "You scared me!"

 

Nico just shook his head. He opened up his palm and materialized his sword. Jason looked stunned. His jaw was dropping. Then his expression went serious. He charged at Nico, the tip of his sword aiming at Nico's chest. Nico blocked his thrust, and twisted his sword, sending Jason's out of reach. He slammed Jason in the chest with the hilt of his sword. Jason fell backwards.

 

Percy recovered from the shock of watching Nico disarm Jason Grace and send him flying back. Percy approached Nico slowly. Percy swung his sword at Nico but Nico was too quick. He missed. Nico thrust his sword against Percy's side but Percy dodged his attack. They danced around for minutes; Percy constantly calling in water to help him recover from the wounds Nico gave him, and Nico constantly getting tired by the moment. He decided to end this. He let Percy thrust him, and as he did, he turned his body to shadow and then materialized beside Zeus' Fist. It was Percy's turn to look stunned. He was about to charge at Nico when the shadows bent in front of Percy and covered his sight. Nico leaped and grabbed the flag, then released the shadows which were covering Percy's face. He ran into the nearest shadow and travelled back to his base. There was a massive cheer.

 

 

Sadly, they didn't have a celebration in order of their victory. The new demigods had classes tomorrow. They said goodbye, and Nico teleported the Seven, Will and his friends, and the new demigods back to campus. They each went to their respective rooms, and Nico walked Will to his.

 

They had a small chat on the way there. Will was disappointed because of losing. He told Nico that he was expecting his team to win. Due to the large numbers. And Percy and Jason. Will was almost sure their team would have won. Until the sons of Zeus and Poseidon were taken down by a child of Hades. Will was glad he was dating Nico.

 

They stopped in front of Will's room. Nico turned to Will. They looked at each other in the eye. Three years ago, when they were both 15, Will was a lot taller than Nico. By almost a foot. The both of them were merely good friends. And they weren't worried of any prophecies. But three years is fast. And a lot has changed. Now, Nico is only two inches shorter than Will. They were dating. And Nico would have to go and save the world. Again.

 

"Nico," Will whispered. Nico raised his eyebrows.

 

"What is it, Will?" Nico asked, worried about what Will would say next.

 

"I want to come with you. On your quest. I want to help."

 

"I know, Will. You are coming with me and Thomas. You're my boyfriend, and Thomas is like my brother. He is, actually. My half-stepbrother. From my stepmom-"

 

Will shut him up with a kiss. Nico's eyes widened, and then blushed. They both let out a chuckle.

 

They realised it was late and parted. Nico said goodnight to Will and walked back to his room.

 

Nico climbed onto his bed. He thought about when he would be leaving for the quest. There was still a lot of things that needed to be done, such as training the new demigods, and learning how to fully master his new weapon, the sceptre. That thing had enormous power. He also definitely needed to train Will and Thomas more. If they were going to battle primeval gods, those two will need to develop their powers even more. Will with his Apollo skills, and Thomas with the inherited mystic spirit powers Persephone granted him.


	7. The Start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The quest begins, and so far all's well

Nico thought about the second line from the prophecy. Find the god below to light the abyss. What did that mean? Was the abyss where they had to travel, and they needed guidance from an Underworld god? Or was 'below' a position? The lowest ranked god. Was that what it meant? And, if 'below' WAS a place, well that meant they had to find the god there. But where was 'below'? Did it mean the Underworld?

 

If Nico asked the mortals, he would get dozens of different answers. They would say either an underground cavern, or hell, which is their name for the Underworld. However they could also say 'below' as in 'south'. The southern part of the world, Antartica. They could also interpret 'below' as in 'underwater'. An old sea god, probably?

 

Either way, he would have to find the god, because he needed that god to light the abyss. The prophecy said so. Either that was meant figuratively or literally, Nico didn't knew. If it was meant figuratively, that meant the god could guide Nico on his quest. Probably answer his questions. But if it was meant literally, that meant Nico and his friends would have to go to the abyss, and the god would be the one lighting their path.

 

###

They decided to search first in Antartica before going to the Underworld to find the god. They left for the quest two weeks after Nico discovered the sceptre. He, Will, and Thomas had told their teachers they were going to have an expedition to the south, researching about Antartica and its surprisingly habitable ecosystem. They said they'd be back in a month or two. Nico hoped it was true.

 

For transport, they planned to have Jules-Albert drive them to the airport, but because of the experience Thomas' dad had in the skies, they decided they wouldn't take a plane. Instead, Nico offered to simply shadow-travel them to Antartica, few hundred miles at a time. Surprisingly, Will agreed. But Will insisted that Nico should rest for a while after each time they shadow-jump. Nico decided so that they wouldn't waste time, he would summon Jules-Albert while he rest, so they would constantly stay moving.

 

It was a good plan. Even Chiron was surprised. Chiron told them to stop by at Camp Jupiter on their way there, just to inform them of the possible threat the primeval gods pose to them if they were to wake earlier than expected, which is the end of this September.

 

That afternoon, they said their goodbyes, and Chiron gave them his blessing. Nico held Will's and Thomas' hands, and led them to the nearest shadow. They disappeared in an instant.

 

###

When they opened their eyes, they were somewhere they did not expect to be. When Nico travelled them, he was aiming for Pittsburg. He did not expect to go across seas, because, he'd accidentally brought them to France. Which is a really far jump. Nico hadn't done this kind of distance in years. He didn't directly collapse; probably because he was holding the sceptre of Erebus, and that thing gave him power. The darkness it held, it felt virtually unlimited. Just like man's desire.

 

Nico suddenly remembered that Erebus was said to be a part of Hades, and Hades was the lord of the Dead. Did desire have something to do with Hades' sphere of influence? Nico realised it did. Hades was also the god of wealth, and riches had a lot to do with desire. And Death and Desire weren't so far apart, Nico thought. Once you die, all your dreams, your wants... they fade away. Life becomes pointless. But death isn't really that cruel. Nico knew that perfectly. Death gives you the hope in life. Without _death_ , life becomes pointless. If you knew you wouldn't die, what was the point of living, then? If everyone was immortal; if death would suddenly cease to exist, then many, many things would go bad. People would stop doing the right things, the sick would just continue to suffer, the evil would just continue to reign, and the ones at war would never be at peace. Death is more of a cure, Nico thought. Even his philosophy teacher had said so. And so if people wanted to die, well then they'd have good reasons. They might do it out of desperation, out of suffering, or out of hopelessness.

 

 

But Will still insisted that Nico should get some rest. Nico decided not to argue tonight. He summoned Jules-Albert and surprisingly, he was in a Peugeot 1007. They were both French. Nico wasn't sure how good of a car Peugeot was, but he decided that whatever car Jules-Albert was going to drive would be fine.

 

He plopped into the back seat with Will, and Thomas sat in the front. They discussed a little about the mission, such as where they were in Alaska they were going to search, since the continent _is_  huge. But after a few minutes of talking, they decided to think about that later in the morning, because Nico was already yawning and they were all suddenly sleepy. Although it was still 4 PM back in New York. They drifted off to sleep, and Nico granted them all safety in the world of demigod dreams.

 

###

Nico woke up at a honk blown by Jules-Albert. Will and Thomas were fast asleep, and they both seemed undisturbed by whatever dreams they were having. He looked at Will's watch. It showed a few minutes past midnight. Nico had only slept for two hours. He was about to go back to sleep when Jules-Albert screeched the car to a halt. Will was stirring in his sleep, but Nico blocked his mind from waking. He let the darkness roll over him and he fell back to sleep.

 

He looked to the front window, and saw why Jules-Albert had stopped. Out there, in the cold dark, was a woman in a green dress. Nico knew this woman. Actually, she wasn't just a woman. She was the goddess. The goddess of magic, to be exact. Hecate.

 

Nico stepped out of the car, and turned towards the goddess. She had Mist crawling around her feet, and Nico realised it was her protection. Nico decided he would also need some.

 

He called for the shadows, and sure enough, they obeyed. The darkness bent towards Nico and started to form some kind of misty air around his feet. He approached towards the goddess and and stopped a few feet in front of her. He bowed.

 

"Hecate," Nico started. Nico looked at her in the eyes and continued talking, "What is it that you want from me?" Nico tried to sound polite. He failed.

 

"My dear, Nico. Is it always something you have that I want? No. Tonight, I have come to inform you. I know you have learnt to use the Mist. But sadly you have not mastered it. Your sister Hazel does. And that little sceptre of yours, you must learn that it works similarly with the Mist. The shadows and the darkness, they bend to desire. However, unlike the Mist, it is not what others want or feel that it would bend to. This sceptre bends to your feelings and emotions. You must learn to control yourself Nico. For once you have, you will have immense power. Your intelligence added with your skills and magic, that would pose a great threat against your enemies, even gods. And so what I want from you, is self-control. I want you to own yourself. For a king has only two tools; a voice and a sceptre."

 

And on that note, Hecate disappeared. Nico thought about what Hecate had said earlier. A king, Nico thought. The prophecy said something about the throne being taken, but Nico had already done that. He was a king already; the King of Ghosts. What more could he be?

 

He then decided to talk to Will and Thomas about this later. He went inside the car, gestured for Jules-Albert to drive, and closed his eyes.


	8. The God Of Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The quest continues, and Nico makes a new friend. A god.

Nico woke up to the sight of traffic on the streets of Paris. Cars were loaded up on both sides of the road, and Nico could see the driver's faces as they blew their horns. Jules-Albert seemed fine with traffic, though. Nico guessed all he wanted was to drive.

 

It was 7:00, and for as long as Nico could remember, he had never woken up this late. He was even more surprised to see that Will was still asleep. He usually wakes up at sunrise. He looked at the seat in front of him. Thomas was still slouched in his chair, asleep. He decided not to wake them up and instead make breakfast.

 

He reappeared at an apartment room in Paris where his dad had bought for his children in case they needed to rest. Actually, Hades had owned at least one house or apartment in every single city bought for his children. Nico guessed he should thank him. Hades was, although the other gods would never agree, was the best godly father. Hades actually talks to his children and sends them help when they need it.

 

He began cooking. Nico was from Italy, and his mom loved to cook. Nico inherited his mother's passion for it. He took some flour, milk, and eggs and made a quick, yeastless dough. He spread it into a big rectangle and sprinkled cinnamon over it. He rolled it as if he were to roll paper and cut it into 12 pieces. He put them in the oven and began making eggs.

 

###

Nico travelled back to the car, and as he expected, it was still in the middle of traffic. Will and Thomas were still asleep. He pushed Will's shoulders and woke him up.

 

"Huh?" Will asked sleepily. "Nico, what time is it?"

 

Nico gave him a smirk and replied, "It's already eight, wake up."

 

Will sat up, slowly, and looked at Nico. "You made breakfast?"

 

Nico gave him a smile. "Yes, I did. Now here, eat." Nico gave Will his breakfast; cinnamon rolls and scrambled eggs.

 

Then he leaned forward to wake Thomas up. "Hey, Thomas. Thomas. Wake up. Breakfast's ready."

 

Surprisingly, Thomas woke up easier than Will. He bolted up, and turned to Nico. "Huh? Oh, thanks."

 

Nico handed him his food. Together, the three of them ate. As they did, Nico told them about his encounter with Hecate last night.

 

"Hecate visited me." He spat out. "She said I needed to learn how to control myself."

 

Will and Thomas turned towards him. Will raised an eyebrow. "What? You met Hecate? When?"

 

"Midnight. She told me that-- that if I learnt to control my own emotions and my own mind, I could be a king. She said... she said that a king only needs two tools, a voice and a sceptre. Did she mean that, as in, literally?"

 

Will gave him an apologising look. "I'm sorry, Nico. I don't have an answer. I wish I did. But let's think about that later, once this quest is done. Right now, we need to focus on our quest."

 

"You're right, Will. Let's just... finish breakfast and then head out."

 

###

They finished their food and thanked Jules-Albert. Nico brought them to the shadow of a huge building and in an instant, they disappeared.

 

They opened their eyes to an astonishing view. It was a sunny afternoon, and the streets of Tokyo were nearly empty. Nico had brought them even further; to Asia. The skyscrapers were lined up neatly, and the highway that spanned the city cast a shadow to the main streets.

 

Nico felt extremely tired. He would've fell to the ground if Will hadn't caught him. Nico summoned his sceptre. Luckily, it fed him his energy back. He sighed with relief, and turned to Will. "So..." he started, "Where to next?" Will gave him a glare and his doctor mode kicked in, "No! You just travelled us this far, and now you're offering to go further!? Absolutelt not! You are going to rest. At least for the night. It's going to be dark in an hour, so I suggest se find somewhere to stay. A hotel, maybe?"

 

"No," Nico turned him down. "However, I do have a house here in Japan. Actually, it's any child of Hades' house. We should go there."

 

They both nodded, and Nico took them to his house.

 

It was huge and red. That's all Nico needed to say. Will and Thomas were gaping at it. "Come on, let's get in."

 

Nico unlocked the door, and entered the two storey house. The main living room was right in front of him when he walked in, and the kitchen was connected to it. The rooms were upstairs, and Nico led them to their rooms. There were only two, so they decided that Nico and Will would be in one room, and Thomas would be in the other. Nico was pleased with that decision.

 

Will told Nico that he would go shower, and Thomas said he wanted to go take a nap. Nico decuded he would go take a walk.

 

When Nico left the house, it was 5:30 PM. He decided he would only take a 20 minutes walk.

 

The air was cold, and Nivo loved the sight of Japan. The roads were lined up with trees and the winds blew them hard enough to make them dance. He'd only walked for five minutes when he ran into a man. Actually, a god. Great, he thought, another godly encounter.

 

"Morpheus" Nico bowed.

 

"Aah, very good Nico di Angelo. Not many seem to know me. I'm pleased that you do."

 

"How can I be of your service?" Nico asked politely. He decided to, only because so far the god of dreams hasn't done anything terrible to him. Not yet.

 

Morpheus smiled and said, "I would like to ask you a question. May I?"

 

"Go ahead" Nico answered.

 

"Have you always had control over the dreamscape?"

 

Nico didn't think about that. "Uuh, no. My powers over dreams were just something I developed recently."

 

"Yes, good. And have you always had control over the shadows?"

 

"Uuh... yes?" It turned into a question. "I think I've only learned to do that right before the Titan War. Why are you asking me this?"

 

Morpheus smiled. "Who is your father?", he asked.

 

"Uuh," Nico was pretty sure the gods knew exactly who his father was, but he decided to play along. "Hades."

 

"Yes, and do you know what are Hades' spheres of influence?"

 

"Death and riches."

 

"Exactly. So how did you inherit those shadow-manipulating and dream-controlling powers?"

 

"Wha--?" Nico never thought about that. "Erebus." He muttered. "That's where I got my powers. From Erebus."

 

"Good. Nico, you must know that Erebus had become a part of Hades after he disappeared. In the past, none of Hades' children had ever inherited Erebus' powers. You are the first. You do know that don't you?"

 

Nico nodded. "Wait, so does this mean... I have the powers of a primeval god?" Nico paused for a moment. "Hold on, I'm a demigod, and demigods are half-human half-god. Does this make me... half-human and half-primeval god?" Nico stared down the floor. "Oh, no."

 

Morpheus looked at him pitily. He then gave him a smile. "You must learn to accept your fate, Nicolas. Do you remember what Hecate said? Learn to control yourself. And you are made of two selves. Don't let Erebus take control."

 

And on that advice, Morpheus said goodbye and disappeared. Nico felt overwhelmed. It was getting dark. He decided to get back to the house.


	9. Untitled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The quest continues. Not much action in this chapter. Hopefully the next one! :)

Will had just finished his bath, and now it was Nico's turn. He took his spare jeans and headed towards the showers. As he showered, he thought about his encounter with Morpheus. That guy was so far the kindest god he had met. Seriously. Next to him on the list was Hades. That guy can be really kind and thoughtful if he wanted to.

 

Nico finished showering and put on his jeans. He headed out to his room and took a shirt. He then went downstairs and sat with Will and Thomas on the sofa.

 

"So..." Nico began, "I met another god."

 

Will just looked at him. He guessed it wasn't unusual to meet gods on quests. Thomas, on the other hand, went wide-eyed.

 

"Really? Who was it?" He asked excitedly.

 

"I met Morpheus." Nico's eyes drifted to the floor. "He said-- He made me realise something." Nico corrected. "My powers; I inherited them from Erebus and Hades, unlike any of my brothers or sisters. He also said that... that it made me half-mortal and half-primeval god. He told me not to let Erebus take over."

 

Nico let that statement hang. For a moment, he thought, is the darkness actually evil? The darkness was immaterial. And from what Nico knew, the immaterial was good, like Hypnos (Sleep), and Hemera (Daylight). However there was one exception for the good immaterial. Love. Eros was wicked evil. Nico hated him. Although he should sort of thank love for his relationship with Will. That was a good thing.

 

So he concluded that most primeval gods who represent the immaterial are good, like Hemera, and that most primeval gods who represent the material are evil, like Gaea, and Tartarus.

 

So was Erebus an exception? Or was he actually good? And as in good, not destructive and violent. He decided that the darkness was not such an evil force, since Nico had been using it from when he'd first developed his powers. Then again, Nico had been using it to do 'good' things. So he guessed it all came down to usage and practition. If the user or practitioner is evil, then the force would be recognised as an evil force, and vice versa. So, to give a final conclusion, all forces are neutral, and their effects, positive or negative, depends on the user.

 

So the darkness wasn't evil. As long as Erebus himself was not. And now since Erebus' powers had descended to Nico, the darkness won't be evil as long as he wasn't. Nico was pretty sure he wasn't.

 

"Uuh, alright." Thomas broke the tension. "Let's just... get dinner?" He offered.

 

Nico and Will nodded, and together, the three of them went out to go to a Japanese restaurant.

 

###

They arrived back at the house at around 11. What a great night. Nico had to admit, he'd never had that much fun since... well, since a really long time. Nico couldn't even remember.

 

That night, Nico and Will went on their third date. It was just the both of them, since Thomas decided to head home early.

 

Nico and Will's first night in Japan, and it had been epic. They ate dinner at this street food restaurant owned by some old Japanese lady. They ate this whole plate of seafood dishes. It tasted incredible. There was octopus, eel, tuna, and a bunch more sea creatures. They ate for an hour or so, and then went to a movie. A horror movie. It was the funniest movie Nico had ever watched. He laughed through it the whole time. Will, on the contrary, was screaming and shouting like a child. He stared at Nico blankly, wondering how he could even watch these kind of things. Nico just laughed and offered to leave. Will gratefully agreed to.

 

After the movie, they went to a dance club. Will had invited Nico to dance, and Nico refused at first. After what seemed like years of Will begging him to dance, Nico finally obliged. Nico had to say, he did sort of enjoy dancing, although he terribly hated the music they played. It had all these weird, awful electronic sounds. One song consisted of the least words Nico had ever heard in a song: turn down for what. He still preffered the 80s music compared to that.

 

It was a long night, and after they entered the house, they directly dropped to the bed. They were exhausted, but it was worth it.

 

###

Nico woke up half-naked to Will sleeping next to him on the bed. He could see the early light of dawn from the small slits on the window blinds. He sat up straight, and rubbed his eyes. He still felt the exhaustion from last night. Last night...,he recalled... Their date... He had so much fun last night with Will.

 

He looked at Will's direction. The son of Apollo looked like a child in his sleep. His snoring loud yet rythmic, his position, and with his face planted to the pillow.

 

Nico decided to let Will sleep a little longer. He went to the bathroom and took a quick shower.

 

After he was done, he went to the room to check on Will again. That guy was still asleep. Nico made up his mind not to wake him up and instead go get breakfast.

 

###

He got back from the grocery store at around a quarter past five, bringing the basic ingredients he always uses whenever he makes breakfast back in Italy. However, today, he wanted to make his pasta with a slight Japanese twist.

 

He finished cooking the pasta after around half an hour, and served it with deep fried chicken fillet and a sweet Japanese soy sauce. He went upstairs to the rooms to wake up Will and Thomas. He entered his room to find Will still asleep. The sun hasn't risen yet, so no wonder Will was still asleep. Nico checked his watch. It read 5:51. The sun should be fully up in around a few minutes. And by then, Will should be awake.

 

As Nico expected, the sun had fully rose two minutes later. So did Will. He shot out of bed like a rocket, suddenly awake once the rays of sunlight finally hit him.

 

"Nico," Will greeted him, "You're awake. And... you made breakfast. Again." Will thanked him, "That's so sweet of you. But you shouldn't be pushing yourself."

 

"Yeah?" Nico blushed. "Well cooking's actually not that hard. If your childhood consists of four years surviving all alone, you need to learn to feed yourself. And I already knew how to do that before I lived all alone, so the rest of my problems were mainly psychological."

 

Will looked at him in pity. He put out his arms and wrapped Nico in a hug. Nico returned the hug and put his mouth against Will's ear.

 

"I'm fine now, though," He said.

 

"Nico... I know you are."

 

Nico looked at him gratefully and said, "Alright. Now here," Nico handed him his food, "Eat. We'll leave once we're ready."

 

Will took the food and started eating, and Nico decided to wake Thomas up.

 

He knocked the door and waited. After a few minutes of waiting, the door finally opened to show Thomas half-awake. "Huh? Nico?" Thomas looked at him in confusion. It took him 3 seconds to finally understand the purpose of Nico waking him up. "Oh, breakfast! Thanks Nico!"

 

Nico handed him his food. He told Thomas that once they were all ready they would start travelling again, and then went back to his room.

 

###

About an hour later, they arrived at China. The exact same place Nico had usually ended up if his shadow-travelling went off-course: Hong Kong.

 

Huh, Nico thought, I haven't been here for a long time.

 

Luckily, he still remembered how to navigate around the place. "So, guys..." Nico turned to his fellow questmates. "I guess now that we're here... I want to take you somewhere."

 

###

They walked for nearly three hours, before he reached the peak of the mountain. From what he remembered, the mountain was called Tai Mo Shan. And from what he can recall from the past time he spent in China, the word 'shan' meant 'mountain'. Yep, Nico knew how to speak Chinese. Well, how could you travel to China hundreds of times and not know Chinese.

 

At the peak was where he met the goddess. "Nico di Angelo," the goddess said. "I had a feeling you would come here. After all, this is the only place where my husband would not bother you."

 

Will and Thomas exchanged some looks. "Nico?" Will asked.

 

Nico didn't reply. He just bowed to the goddess and said, "Persephone." Will quickly followed behind him.

 

Thomas, on the other hand jumped in surprise behind him. "Mom?" He looked at her in disbelief. "Whoa! Haha!" he let out a huge grin. He turned to give Nico an excited look before realising that he should be bowing as well. He then turned back to Persephone. His expression changed. "Oh, sorry." He quickly bowed.

 

"Nevermind that, my son. Come, you three. We have much to discuss if you are to find the god."


	10. The King In His Throne

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They get a little bit of help from a goddess.

They followed Persephone to a cave which Nico could've sworn he'd never seen before. The cave was quite large, and the entrance was big enough for a bus.

 

As they entered, Nico quickly scanned the surroundings. Just to make sure it was clear, because when you're a demigod, you have to be in full alert.

 

They entered the cave, and as Persephone lead them deeper in the cave, the colder it got. Thomas who was previously excited and giddy was now starting to whimper every once in a while. Nico saw why. Ghosts were present all around them. And they were shouting some quite discouraging things. Give up, one of the ghosts whispered. What's the point?

 

Nico knew better than to listen to those spirits. Will and Thomas, on the other hand were all scared and freaked. "Nico?" Will asked. "We should get out of here."

 

Nico didn't see why. They were being led by a goddess who Nico trusts, and the cave seemed safe from any dangers so far. The ghosts must've got to him. "Go away." Nico whispered to the ghosts, "Leave us."

 

He used his strength to keep them away. Thankfully, it worked. They were starting to back away from the group. "Will," Nico turned to him, "Don't let them get to you. They're using your fears to exploit you. Don't listen."

 

Will looked at him and replied, "Yeah. Alright. Thanks, Nico." Will gave him a grateful look.

 

They kept walking, and soon, after what seemed like twenty minutes of it, they reached a room. It was brightly lit, and the sudden transition hurt Nico's eyes. He scowled, and after he reopened his eyes, he could see a dining table. "We're... eating?" Nico asked hopefully. The four hour walk/hike had made him starving. 

 

"Yes" Persephone replied, "Yes we are." She gestured for them to sit, and as they did, she called the spirits for food. The table was soon filled with many dishes, mainly chinese, but Nico could see some Western food among it.

 

As they ate, Persephone began to talk, "So..." she looked around the group of demigods, "You do know where to find the god?"

 

"Uuh," Nico was the first to reply, "We're supposed to find him in Antartica. Am I right?" He turned to Persephone.

 

"Yes, you are, but do you know exactly where? Antartica is quite huge." The goddess pointed it out on a map. As if they didn't know where it was.

 

Nico decided to remain polite. "No... Where exactly are we supposed to find him?"

 

Persephone smiled at him. "Where do you find a king?" She asked.

 

Nico thought about that for a moment. It was Thomas who spoke up. "On his throne." He looked at her as if he'd suddenly gotten clarity.

 

"Very good, my son. You will find a king sitting on his throne. And you will find the god resting in his home."

 

Great, Nico thought. More riddles. "But who is this god?" Nico asked. "How do we find him if we don't even know who he is?"

 

Persephone only smiled at him and nodded, "You will know when the time is right." Even better, Nico thought. Now she's getting dramatic.

 

Either way, they thanked Persephone for the food and advice and left. Nico decided that since they would be travelling again once they got out, he should just shadow-travel them and continue their journey.

 

They exited the bright room, and once they were back in the shadows of the cave, Nico took them away from China.

 

###

They reappeared on a beach, and around them, semi-tanned Asian seniors were living their normal lives. He scanned the surroundings, and from what his brain told him, this place was Vietnam. He'd never been here before, but he was pretty sure that they were somewhere in Eastern Vietnam.

 

Nico was glad they appeared in Vietnam, because this was the only place where they met a monster. Not being able to fight one, knowing that the creatures could attack them any minute, it was frustrating. At least here, they were sure the enemy was here. And, luckily, it was just a group of Cyclopes. Nothing hard.

 

There were eight of them, Nico counted. He calculated that it should take him around thirty seconds to vaporize them all.

 

Alright, Nico thought. First he should block the mortals' vision. He snapped his fingers. Mist crawled around the cyclopes, making them look like gigantic stuffed animals.

 

He then charged at their direction, and, once he was close enough, he sliced the first one to dust. So far, eight seconds had gone by. He continued, dodging the second one's club, and thrusted it by its stomach. It instantly turned to powder. He turned to fce the next two, and as he expected, they would both swing their axes. He desolidified his body, and then rematerialized behind them. He swung a wide arc and sliced them by their waists. Twelve seconds had just passed. He turned to the other three monsters and as he faced them, the one closest to him thrust him with his javelin. He sidestepped, and threw his sword at the cyclops' direction. He materialized his sceptre and devoured the other two. Now, there was only one guy left. It was a stupid one. It charged at Nico's direction, spear pointed at him. Nico simply moved his body to the left and spun, giving his sword momentum, and as it sliced through the monster, he could hear it wailing. Nico smirked. It took him exactly thirty seconds.

 

He turned towards Will and Thomas, who were clearly gaping. "Wha--" Will stammered. "How did you--" He paused. "How did you do that whole dematerializing thing in purpose?"

 

Nico looked at Will. "I... Uh... I inherited that one from Erebus. Quite fun, actually, practising my powers like that."

 

Thomas just stared at him. "Wow. I wish I'd developed my powers already."

 

Nico looked blankly at the sand. "Yeah, me too."

 

###

The hotel was nice, and they had a view of the beach from their room. The three of them shared, and Nico had to ask for another bed, since the three of them couldn't possibly fit in one bed.

 

It was lunchtime, so they decided that they would go have lunch. They ate at a seafood restaurant not far from their hotel.

 

The weather was hot, so Nico had to take off his jacket. The restaurant was sort of a tented one, so the cool breeze of the ocean blew strong against their faces.

 

The food itself was excellent. Nico had to learn how to make this. He figured that it would take many rare spices and herbs, and that the fish would also have to be fresh. In Vietnam, they served the food with steamed rice, and in Italy, Nico rarely at it. He really had to learn how to cook this.

 

But first things first. He had a quest to finish. He would first have to find the god, then get answers from him. After that, he would have to battle some ancient gods before he would be free again of his duties. Then he thought about it. The whole 'battling the ancient gods'. He knew how chaotic that can be. Defeating Gaea was stressful enough. Now they had to defeat a group of them? That would be impossible, even though they had Erebus on their side. The battle would cost a lot of lives.

 

Wow. He never saw it like that. He didn't see exactly just how serious this quest was. He figured that if he didn't succeed, if he wasn't able to defeat those primeval gods, they would probably take over the Olympus. Possibly even the Earth. Dangerous.

 

So he guessed that meant that he had to succeed. The results would be catastrophic if he didn't.

 

Uuuh. So much responsibility was in their hands. But he decided not to stress about it too much.

 

They finished eating and payed. They walked back to their hotel, around three kilometres away. Once they reached it, it was already three. He decided to take a nap. He needed the rest before they head out on their quest again tomorrow.


	11. Ancient

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As I promised, some action.

"Nico, wake up."

 

He heard a voice call from somewhere above him. Nico recognised it as Will's.

 

"Mmph?" Nico mumbled onto his pillow. He started to open his eyelids, and from what his eyes could barely see, it was almost dawn.

 

"Will?" He turned towards the blonde. In the dark, he could see little details of his frowning face. Will didn't usually frown. "What's wrong?" he asked, full of concern.

 

Will struggled to find his words. "S-someone's outside" he said. Nico jumped out of bed, turned towards the door and pointed his sword at it. "Who is it?" he demanded. He then realised that he was still only in his boxers, and quickly put on some clothes.

 

"No! Not outside the door. T-the window. Over there." He pointed to a figure standing outside their hotel. It was staring at them 60 feet down the beach. The figure looked sort of odd. Nico would've thought of it as a statue, with its chubby face yet sharp hair and tusks and its odd bodily features, if it hadn't raised its hand and summoned a wave that slammed their hotel.

 

Will stumbled, but Nico caught him. Thomas wasn't that lucky. He fell to the wooden floor. Right after Nico heard the bang that was Thomas' head hitting the now broken wood, he saw Thomas bolt right up.

 

"Wha- What's going on?" He managed to say.

 

Nico turned to him. "Thomas! We're being attacked. Get out of here, find someplace safe! Now!" Nico ordered.

 

"What? No! I want to be useful. Let me help you defeat this guy."

 

The room was now flooding, and, as another wave was heading towards them, their hotel was falling apart. If Thomas wasn't going to get to safety, Nico decided that he would have to take the three of them someplace safe.

 

"Alright, guys. Hold on." Nico took their hands. The wave was now only 40 feet away from hitting them. Nico concentrated and tried to get the shadows to take them somewhere high.

 

They reappeared half a second later, on a cliff 300 yards away from their hotel. He could see the angry god still attacking the hotel. Oh, gods no. Those people. He had to save them. The look on Will's face also showed that he didn't want them to die just because the god thought the three demigods were there.

 

Nico materizalized his sceptre. He thrust out his free hand, and screamed. A wall of black suddenly solidified in front of the hotel, taking the impact of the wave that came next. But that didn't fix all the damage. The hotel... it was still falling apart. No. He had to save those people. Nico searched his mind for ways he could do that, but he couldn't find one. Surprisingly, it was Thomas who found an answer.

 

"Nico. Teleport the hotel. Could you do that?"

 

The hotel? Nico hadn't tried moving objects that are intact, and he didn't want the mortals to become sceptical and stuff about being suddenly teleported. But he had to. For the sake of all the people who are still inside the building.

 

Then Thomas spoke again, "Or you could build a support for the hotel like what you did with that wall."

 

Of course! Why hadn't Nico thought of that? He should've strengthened the wooden columns that held the hotel together from the first place. Better late then never, right?

 

He thrust out his hand again, and suddenly, the hotel's wooden frame was encased in black.

 

He sighed with relief. "Gods, thanks Thomas. Why hadn't I thought of that?"

 

Thomas just nodded back at him and then pointed back at the raging god. Nico had to admit he totally forgot about it. Priorities... Nico now had new ones. He had to defeat this god. As he thought about how, the god turned towards them and Nico suddenly realised who the god was. It was an ancient god. Primeval, actually. It was Pontus.

 

Oh, no. No. They weren't ready to fight an ancient sea god. But then again, they had to. For the sake of all the people on Earth. For the sake of their future.

 

Alright, Nico thought. He would have to defeat the god. But how? He searched his mind for ways to do that.

 

He thought about that thing that happened with Gaea. She was defeated by being lured out of her sphere of power and then was destroyed by a huge amount of energy. Explosive energy, mind that.

 

He then thought about something else. His powers... They had Erebus, didn't they? Well, they had Nico, and so technically, they had Erebus. An idea popped into his head. It could work...

 

But first he had to form a plan. He needed time to do that. Maybe if he could stall the god...

 

"Hey, Thomas." Nico turned to him.

 

"Hhhmm?" Thomas raised an eyebrow.

 

"I remember you saying that you wanted to help defeat him?" It became a question. "And didn't you say that you wanted to develop your powers?"

 

Thomas widened his eyes. "Go on," he urged.

 

"I need a distraction. I've got an idea how to put this guy down, but I'm gonna need a plan. Will's gonna help me do that," he turned to his boyfriend before continuing, "and you're gonna give us the time we need to form that plan. I need you to stall him."

 

Thomas grinned and nodded. He seemed happy to participate in this.

 

Thomas went to the edge of the cliff and opened up his palm, as if trying to control Pontus. Surprisingly, it worked. The old god stopped moving for a moment. This could work.

 

Nico turned to Will and told him what needed to be done. Will nodded as he spoke. They discussed the problems they would face if they did this, and together, they formed an attack plan.

 

"Alright," Nico said. "Ready?"

 

"I'm ready when you're ready." Will replied.

 

Nico nodded and then called out for his older half-stepbrother. "Thomas!" he shouted.

 

Thomas turned to him. His face still had that grin. "Yeah, Nico?" he asked.

 

Nico walked towards him and told him the plan. Thomas nodded.

 

It took him a while to respond. "Wait, have you considered that--"

 

"Yes, I have." Nico cut him short. "I've considered every possible risk and every single possibility. There's a chance Erebus might swallow him all at once, but I don't know. Let's just do this."

 

Nico took them by their hands and ran towards the closest shadow. They were engulfed in less than a second.a

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter was a little bit short. I tried a different style of writing, though!


	12. Ancient Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuing the previous chapter

Nico charged towards the god. There's no turning back now. He's going to do this.

 

It was still dark, and the sun wasn't up yet. There were shadows around the beach. He would have to use them to his advantage. It would make the difference between victory and defeat.

 

As he was running towards the god, he concentrated. After he swung his sword, he would have to quickly teleport away. And then after that, he would need to rely on Thomas and Will to weaken the god. Will's bow and arrows were literally made of shadows, and Thomas wielded a sword similar to Nico's, only much lighter.

 

Nico had gotten close enough for him to wound the god. He swung his sword, and, as he did, it cut through the god's fatty stomach. Nico instantly called for the shadows to teleport him away. He reappeared around 70 yards away.

 

From where he stood, he could see Thomas fighting with the god, sword against spear. He also saw standing a few feet to Nico's right, constantly shooting arrows that wounded the god. His plan was working.

 

And then everything went wrong. When Thomas had swung again, attempting to slash the god's body, Pontus disappeared. He knew gods could do that. He was actually hoping that this certain one wouldn't.

 

That ruined his plan. He was supposed to teleport Thomas to safety once Pontus was weakened, and then have the shadows take the sea god and take him apart piece by piece.

 

Will and Thomas ran towards Nico. Their plan had definitely failed. Now, there was no god to take apart. They guessed they would have to improvise. Nico scanned their surroundings. He finally saw him. To their left, Pontus had started to shimmer into existence.

 

Nico turned towards his two friends. "Guys," Nico pointed to the god, "there he is."

 

Thomas nodded and so did Will. They both started attacking Pontus. Thomas had started charging towards the god, while Will began to shoot his first arrow. The god was clearly occupied at the moment. Nico never knew being attacked by two highly trained demigods could be so hard.

 

Thomas froze the god for a moment and whistled. That signalled that Pontus was already weak. Alright. Nico had to do it now. He thrust his hand out towards Thomas and in an instant, he was right beside Nico.

 

Next, he thrust out his other hand. A hole in the Earth opened up and swallowed the ancient sea god. Nico jumped down into the hole along with him.

 

 

As Nico fell, he thought about where he would end up. He designed this hole to lead to the Underworld. Nico was fine with that. The problem was Thomas and Will. He had left those two behind. He had to get back to them quickly. He decided that right after Pontus was taken care of, he would directly travel back to Vietnam.

 

The fall lasted for half a minute. As Nico saw the floor of the cave he had brought them to, he directly concentrated, hoping that onve he came in contact with the floor, he would be directly teleported in front of where Pontus would fall.

 

Things happened according to plan. As he reappeared right in front of where Pontus was lying, he called for the shadows to grab the half-concious god. It took a while, and once the god was fully awake, the shadows were already grabbing onto his body. The sea god was now powerless and out of his territory. Nico turned the cables that held Pontus into blades, and as he did, Pontus was wailing in pain.

 

Nico didn't like the sight, but this had to be done.

 

Chopping Pontus into pieces took some time, and once only his head was left, the god let out a soft whisper.

 

"Do not... let Erebus..." Nico's eyes widened at that. He was anxious about what the ancient god would say.

 

Finally, Pontus finished his sentence. "Do not... let him... rise."

 

What? Nico was stunned. Don't let Erebus rise? That meant that Erebus was also evil and destructive and violent.

 

Then the thought occured to him. If Erebus rose, then he would take over Nico. Nico is basically Erebus' host. That would also mean that if Nico was hosting a powerful, evil god, he would also become a powerful, evil demigod.

 

That was highly problematic.

 

But now, he had more problems to deal with. He had to get back to Will and Thomas.

 

He ran into the nearest wall that was covered in shadow and instantly disappeared.

 

###

When Nico reappeared, Will and Thomas were literally frozen. The both of them were encased in a block of ice, their faces full of fear. Nico searched around for the god who could have possibly done this.

 

He didn't see anyone, but he felt their presence. It was like the wind. You couldn't see it, but when it passes by, you'd know that it was there. The presence Nico was feeling right now felt more real by the moment, as if the god was gaining strength.

 

"Show yourself," Nico shouted. He was hoping that the god would reveal himself.

 

"My dear, Nico," a feminine voice said from somewhere to Nico's left. He quickly turned and thrust out his hand. The shadows instantly crawled towards the sound of the goddess and wrapped around her.

 

Nico still couldn't see the goddess, but he knew that if he continued straining her, she would eventually use her godly powers and would be visible to Nico.

 

Sure enough, she did. Once Nico's shadowy cables lashed around her tight enough, she shone. Nico had to look away, and in the process he covered Will's and Thomas' eyes.

 

Once the light died down, he turned back to the goddess. He knew this goddess. She was a minor one, and... wasn't she one of the good ones?

 

He searched his brain for her name, until after a while, he found it.

 

"Kheimon," he pronounced. She was the goddess of winter. And right now was... Oh gods. It was September. By the next month, it would already be winter. No wonder her presence felt like it was getting stronger. The only thing Nico didn't understand was, why was she evil?

 

"What do you want, and let my friends go," Nico said with full determination, "Or else."

 

The goddess laughed at that. "My boy, you must know that I can't. For I have orders from the king himself. He says you must be taken down. You and your little friends. He says you are a... threat," she looked up at the sky once she finished her sentence, as if expecting something to happen.

 

Unfortunately, something did. Thunder rumbled.

**Author's Note:**

> Please tell me what you think! I'm very sorry if it's bad


End file.
